49th Air Division

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The 49th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe at RAF Sculthorpe, England. It was inactivated on July 1, 1956.

Origins
Its roots go back to World War II as the 49th Bombardment Wing, part of Fifteenth Air Force. It was formed in March 1943 at Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina as a medium bomber training wing flying B-25 Mitchells. In April it moved to Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina to train B-25 groups in the Southeast before they deployed overseas.

Transition to heavy bombardment
The wing was redesignated the 49th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) to command Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomb groups as part of Fifteenth Air Force in late 1943. Groups assigned included the 461st and 484th Bombardment Groups, training at Hammer Field, California, and Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska. After the wing deployed to Bari, Italy, in March 1944, the 451st Bombardment Group was transferred to the wing from the 47th Bomb Wing.

Combat in WWII
In Fifteenth Air Force the wing’s groups attacked oil refineries, marshalling yards, aircraft factories, bridges, and airfields in Italy, Germany, Austria, and Bulgaria. They targeted the refineries at Ploiești, helped with the invasion of southern France in August 1944, and supported Allied advances in northern Italy in April 1945. The wing was inactivated in Italy on October 16, 1945.

Postwar reserve and USAFE
Starting in 1947, the unit served in the Air Force Reserve for two years as a B-29 organization and was redesignated as an Air Division. It controlled the 100th Bombardment Group at Miami International Airport and the 380th Bombardment Group at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

Move to Europe and later inactivation
As USAFE expanded, the division moved to England to command and control forces there. It had no combat elements of its own, but attached units—the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing at RAF Wethersfield, the 47th Bombardment Wing at RAF Sculthorpe, and the 81st Fighter-Bomber Wing at RAF Bentwaters—participated in operations. The division supervised and took part in training missions such as Quick Shot, Kingpin, and Bear Claw. It was inactivated on July 1, 1956, due to budget reductions.